Manitoba, Saskatchewan's eastern neighbour, decided to have its provincial election a year early in 2019. Saskatchewan was the only scheduled province to have a provincial election in 2020.
New Brunswick and British Columbia will end up with provincial elections before the October 26 election in Saskatchewan.
The writ is expected to be dropped later today, officially starting the election season.
Scott Moe has been premier for more than 2½ years since February 2, 2018 yet didn't call an early election after taking over for Brad Wall, who was premier from 2007-2018.
The Saskatchewan Party is theoretically a mix of former Progressive Conservatives and Liberals. The party definitely is centre-right versus the opposition New Democratic Party.
Moe currently has 46 seats in the 61-seat legislature, down from 51 seats in the 2016 election.
Ryan Meili leads the NDP has 13 seats, up from 10. There are 2 vacant seats in the legislature in Regina.
Meili has been leader since March 2018 so this will be the first election as leaders for Moe and Meili.
The Green Party, Liberal Party, and the Progressive Conservative Party will run candidates but aren't likely to pick up seats in the legislature in Regina.
Saskatchewan Party picks new leader
Saskatchewan decides to keep its (Brad) Wall
Saskatchewan has done an excellent job handling the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. This might have been why Moe hinted at a possible spring election. Whatever we might think about having an election in a pandemic, fall 2020 is a lot better than spring 2020.
The Saskatchewan Party has promised smaller gatherings and door knocking at a two-metre distance. The NDP is promising more social media and digital communication.
New Brunswick showed that incumbency helped since getting to know new candidates is tougher in a pandemic.
We have a 5-Point Plan to Invest in #RuralHealthcare - unlike Scott Moe and the Sask Party, who closed 13 rural hospitals in the middle of a pandemic. It's time for a government that puts people first.
— Saskatchewan New Democrats (@Sask_NDP) September 27, 2020
See our plan here: https://t.co/3B7j0kulEc#skpoli pic.twitter.com/TOQLzy3Q5o
This is the point where we talk about potential issues in the campaign. The news coverage doesn't really list potential issues. The closing of rural hospitals was also a concern in New Brunswick. The NDP and the Saskatchewan Party released their full list of candidates. Both parties have 6 candidates who have impaired driving convictions in this election. That might be an issue for the other parties.
The fact that the premier has been in office for this long without calling an election is apparently not a major issue. Since the race may not be too close, we decided to run a picture of the bust of Tommy Douglas, the man who brought single-payer health care to Saskatchewan and later all of Canada.
Canadian politics notebook: Upcoming elections in a pandemic
Saskatchewan schools will be closed on election day. The schools will be used as polling stations. The province's teachers will have a paid professional development day.
The highly independent Elections Saskatchewan got the Ministry of Education to adjust the school calendar so schools could be available for voting.
Elections Saskatchewan is trying to increase the number of places to vote for those in Saskatchewan.
"We have purchased about 400,000 masks. We've purchased many litres of hand sanitizer. We are in the process of procuring [Plexiglas] shields," said Michael Boda, the chief electoral officer for Elections Saskatchewan.
About 4,000 voters cast a mail-in ballot in the 2016 election. through the mail. Boda said Elections Saskatchewan is "building capacity" and voters will be able to apply in September for a mail-in ballot.
We reported back in early August about some of the safety priorities Saskatchewan is incorporating to make voting easier.
2020 Canadian politics preview
CanadianCrossing.com Saskatchewan coverage
This election is about ensuring a strong recovery and building a stronger Saskatchewan.
— Saskatchewan Party (@SaskParty) September 26, 2020
Premier Scott Moe and the Saskatchewan Party team are committed to building a better future for all of Saskatchewan where our best days are still ahead of us.#skpoli #StrongSaskatchewan pic.twitter.com/v3GM7a91p3
By law, Saskatchewan's electoral period is 27-34 days.
The 2016 election produced a turnout of 53.5% of eligible voters. We will see how different the turnout will be in a pandemic.
photo credit: me
Twitter captures: @Sask_NDP; @SaskParty
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